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Bhaskara

India has 3.3 million sq.km. land area with varied physical features ranging from snow-covered Himalaya in the north to tropical forests in south and from regions in the east receiving highest rainfall in the world to deserts of Rajasthan in the west. India is also blessed with vast natural wealth but yet to be exploited fully. A coastal belt of 7,500 km. has a store of rich aquatic resources. What better way can be there to monitor and manage the natural resources for a large country like India than using the powerful tool of space-based observation systems? India not only demonstrated the potential of space-based remote sensing in the 70s using data received from the US satellite, Landsat, but also built its own experimental satellites, Bhaskara-1 and Bhaskara-2, which were launched in June 1979 and November 1981, respectively.

One of the major landmarks in these efforts is the planning and implementation of Bhaskara I and II experimental satellite programmes in the time frame of 1976-1982. The Bhaskara programmes provided valuable experience and insight into a number of aspects such as sensor system definition and development, conceptualization and implementation of a space platform, ground-based data reception and processing, data interpretation and utilization as well as issues relating to the integration of the remotely-sensed data with the conventional data systems for resource management.

At the basic level, remote sensing satellites operate with two kinds of sensors - the television camera and microwave radiometer systems. The TC camera system scans and surveys the earth's resources and the changing status of forestry, hydrology, snow cover, mineral deposits and even dynamic conditions like flood courses. Microwave radiometry involves the measuring of microwave radiation emission from the earth to yield data on soil moisture, ocean surface characteristics and biomass features. These data can be collected even when clouds cover the earth's surface. Besides its obvious value in weather prediction, all this data contributes to a better understanding of the land-sea-atmosphere interaction.

Bhaskara-I Satellite was the first Indian low orbit Earth Observation Satellite. Sensor Systems included Television Cameras operating in visible (0.6 micron) and near-infrared (0.8 micron); to collect data related to hydrology, forestry and geology. Satellite microwave radiometer (SAMIR) operating at 19 GHz and 22 GHz for study of ocean-state, water vapor, liquid water content in the atmospher, etc.

A fortnight after its launch on June 7, 1979, Bhaskara-I's microwave radiometer system (SAMIR) was successfully switched on. It beamed back a wealth of data useful in working out temperature distribution over the subcontinent and neighbouring seas, vapourising processes in the atmosphere and rains and humidity data on the surface of the Indian Ocean.

SAMIR worked extremely well but the other major part of the Bhaskara-I experiment was a failure. Electrical snags forced the camera eyes to remain closed for almost a year. A trapped air bubble in the high voltage supply of the TV system was responsible for the problem. Bhaskara-I earned the sobriquet of being blind but not dumb. One of its cameras, however, belatedly started functioning on May 16, 1980 and it beamed back cloud formation pictures over the Bay of Bengal. Thereafter, during its twice daily passes over India Bhaskara-I sent pictures scanning an area of 90,000 sq km.

India's nascent space program added another feather to its cap on November 19 when Bhaskara-II - named after the famous 12th century astronomer - took off from its launch pad in the Soviet Union. An improved version of Bhaskara-I, the new satellite, a quasi-spherical polyhedral, was expected to perform better and transmit a wealth of data used for a variety of scientific experiments. The Space Applications Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad made changes in the high voltage supply of the two band TV camera system in Bhaskara-II to eliminate the electric sparks that put the cameras out of order in Bhaskara-I. Bhaskara-II was expected to lay the necessary groundwork for the setting up of a national resources survey and management system which will be capped by the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellite scheduled to be launched in 1986.

Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Satellite Centre in Bangalore which is responsible for the overall design and development of Bhaskara-II, have taken ample precautions to ensure that the faults that nearly crippled Bhaskara-1 will not be repeated in this mission.